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Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot
Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot, or simply known as Welcome to Care-a-Lot, is a CGI adventure musical animated TV serieswhich is based on the "Care Bears" franchise in honor of their 30th anniversary.[1] It is produced by American Greetings Properties. Unlike its previous predecessor "Care Bears" shows, this is AG's first CGI animated "Care Bears" TV series, though several films in thefranchise had been released in the format. The series premiered on June 2, 2012 on Hub Network in the United States. Previews of each new episode are released weekly on an official channel on YouTube, along with occasional music video or other promotional releases. Synopsis[edit source | editbeta] Set in the magical in-the-air land of Care-a-Lot, Tenderheart Bear, Cheer Bear, Grumpy Bear, Share Bear, Harmony Bear, Funshine Bear and new playful, curious cub Wonderheart Bear all go on adventures that emphasize messages of caring and sharing. Characters[edit source | editbeta] Main Care Bears[edit source | editbeta] *Tenderheart Bear (voiced by David Lodge) - Tenderheart is the eldest and wisest of the Care Bears. Whether it's advice or understanding, a hug or a nudge, he knows just what kids need to help them share their feelings. His belly badge is perfect for the job: a big, red heart. *Cheer Bear (voiced by Patty Mattson) - Cheer is the happiest bear in Care-a-Lot. She's proud for her go-for-it attitude, often makes up cheers right on the spot, and spreads joy is as obvious in her actions as it is on her belly badge: a beautiful rainbow. Once a member of the team, "Bear Power". *Grumpy Bear (voiced by Doug Erholtz) - When Grumpy's not building something, he really does have a heart. He likes to remind kids who are having a bad day that they're always loved, it's as plain as the cloud and heart-shaped raindrops on his belly badge. Once a member of the team, "Bear Power". He is a sports fan who enjoys watching the "Honey Bowl," and is a big eater. *Share Bear (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) - If Share has it, she'll share it with anyone. Carefree and loving, Share is happiest whenever she's with her friends (or baking). She loves sharing so much that she shows it with her belly badge: two heart-shapedlollipops. She has a penchant for baking treats. She lives in a house in the Forest of Feelings. *Harmony Bear (voiced by Nayo Wallace) - Harmony sings, acts, and plays every instrument. She's a natural leader who is all about encouraging others to do their best, especially through music. That's why her belly badge is a single flower with different colored petals. Her belly badge has the power to magically fix broken instruments and also seems to give her the power to hear someone in trouble from a distance. Once a member of the team "Bear Power". *Funshine Bear (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas) - Having fun is Funshine's number one job. Nothing makes him happier than hanging out with friends or going on wild adventures. He makes the brightest of his days with sunny optimism and a flair for beingfearless. His belly badge reflects this spirit: a smiling, blazing sun. Once a member of the team, "Bear Power". *Wonderheart Bear (voiced by Michaela Dean) - Although being the youngest of the Care Bears, Wonderheart always want to take part in "big bears" adventures. She's playfully curious and never short on questions. Her belly badge features a heart within hearts motif, but she doesn't yet know its full power. She is often seen carrying a stuffed bunny named Floppy Bunny, and hangs out with Share Bear a lot. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Little Wonder." Her voice actress is a young girl who won anaudition for the role and who also provides a voice in the U.S. version of the animated adaptation of Guess How Much I Love You.[2] Her character was created specifically for this series and had not been seen in any previous incarnations of the Care Bears. Other Care Bears[edit source | editbeta] *Shiver Me Timbear (voiced by David Lodge) - A legendary pirate captain who is one of Tenderheart's Care Bear ancestors - he even looks like Tenderheart. His belly badge features a heart and crossbones. *Great Giving Bear (voiced by David Lodge) - A Care Bear who is the Care-a-Lot equivalent of Santa Claus; he gives gifts to anyone in Care-a-Lot who cares. His belly badge features a gift box with a heart inside. He has the ability to teleport and teaches it to Tenderheart. *Thanks-a-Lot Bear (voiced by Melissa Mable) - A care bear who is thankful for anything. Her catchphrase is "Thanks a lot!". She is ocean blue, and has a belly badge with a star riding on a rainbow. *Secret Bear (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) - A care bear who's known for keeping secrets. She usually whispers when she speaks. She is magenta colored, and has a heart-shaped lock belly badge. *Wish Bear (voiced by Melissa Mable) - A bear who enjoys making and granting wishes, she is part of a Belly Badge Bouts team in competition with Cheer, Funshine, Grumpy, Harmony and Share. Once a member of the team, "Bear-a-Lots". *CGI Chicken (voiced by Wollington&action=edit&redlink=1 Lara Woillngton, CGI chicken lovely play story your and playful ground on the http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Egg. *Good Luck Bear (voiced by title=Peter_Anderson_(producer)&action=edit&redlink=1 Peter Anderson, one of the show's producers) - A care bear that has an Irish accent[disambiguation needed]. He is green and has a four leaf cloverbelly badge. His belly badge gives him the power to provide good luck to others, if only they can capture his attention. He is part of a Belly Badge Bouts team in competition with Cheer, Funshine, Grumpy, Harmony and Share. Once a member of the team, "Bear-a-Lots". *Amigo Bear (voiced by Mark Mercado) - A bear who speaks with a Mexican accent; he runs his own chili shack. *Champ Bear (voiced by Doug Erholtz) - A bear who at excels at sports, similar to Funshine Bear, he competes in the annual competition in "Shunshine." *Birthday Bear (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas) - A bear who looks to celebrate birthdays. *Laugh-a-Lot Bear (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) - A bear who enjoys laughter and making others laugh, seen only in a brief speaking role to date. Once a member of the team, "Bear-a-Lots". *Love-a-Lot Bear (voiced by Nayo Wallace) - A bear who enjoys sharing love, her belly badge is two overlapping hearts - one red and one pink. She is part of a Belly Badge Bouts team in competition with Cheer, Funshine, Grumpy, Harmony and Share. Once a member of the team, "Bear-a-Lots". *Surprise Bear (voiced by Melissa Mable) - Mentioned by Grumpy Bear. *Bedtime Bear (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas) - A bear who is active at night, but sleepy during the day. He appeared for the first time in a full speaking role in "Over Bearing," where it's revealed when someone wakes him up, he'll become grumpier than Grumpy, and when someone takes his blanket, he'll sleep walk and track it down until he gets it back. He visits Wonderheart Bear at night to help her sleep and performs a duet about sleep with Harmony Bear. *Best Friend Bear (voiced by Olivia Hack) - A purple bear whose belly badge features a rainbow linking a star to a heart. She is part of a Belly Badge Bouts team in competition with Cheer, Funshine, Grumpy, Harmony and Share. Her role is credited as "Friend Bear," but her appearance and belly badge match that of the Best Friend Bear character seen in earlier incarnations of Care Bears, whereas Friend Bear was an orange bear with a flower belly badge. *'Share Bear Duplicate' (voiced by Stephanie Sheh) - A duplicate of Share Bear created by her belly badge. She has little personality and speaks mostly using the phrase "Happy to help." She speaks rather quicker than others. *'Baby Hugs Bear and Baby Tugs Bear ' (voiced by Olivia Hack and Stephanie Sheh) - Two baby bears who are younger than Wonderheart Bear. They obtain their belly badge powers before Wonderheart. Hugs is magenta, and Tugs is light blue. They are members of the Cub Bouts, the junior division of the Belly Badge Bouts. Tugs's belly badge is a red heart inside a yellow star, while Hugs has a yellow star inside a pink heart, though these are not the belly badges that they possessed in earlier incarnations of the franchise. *Grams Bear (voiced by Jennifer Darling) - A turquoise grandmother Care Bear first seen in the original Care Bears series. She speaks with a stereotypical southern U.S. regional dialect and accent. Her belly badge has the power to restore other belly badges that are temporarily out of commission. She once helped Tenderheart Bear and appears to help his niece Wonderheart. *Sweet Dreams Bear (voiced by Olivia Hack) - A bear with a country accent and purplish fur, about the same shade as Harmony Bear's. She has the power to send down sweet dreams one by one to each Care Bear using her belly badge - a pink crescent moon nestled inside a cloud with a heart on it, which takes the form of a rainbow ray attached to a crescent moon. Her power can be drained by a naturally occurring phenomenon known as the "plainbow," but can be restored using other Care Bears's belly badge powers. Despite her special gift, she believes that all dreams, good or bad, are a natural part of the dreamscape. Her character was introduced in the previous series, Adventures in Care-a-Lot. *Bashful Heart Bear Care Kids[edit source | editbeta] *'Penny' (voiced by Katherine Shepler) - A supporting girl in the show. *'Phoebe' (voiced by Isabella Briscoe) - A shy girl with a talent for singing. *'Clem' (voiced by Sean-Ryan Petersen) - A boy with anger management issues, summoned to Care-a-Lot by Beastly. *'Hayden' (voiced by Elle Labadie) - A young girl with an interest in baking. Loyal to Share Bear, she will keep quiet even if it means taking the blame for a friend's bad behavior. It is later revealed that she has a twin who is identical in appearance, though hardly identical in personality. *'Jayden' (voiced by Katherine Shepler) - A twin of Hayden, she seems to be somewhat more sporty and is at times competitive with Hayden. *'Zack' (voiced by Mason Malina) - A boy who is into extreme sports; he visits Care-a-Lot to compete in an annual competition. *'Riley' (voiced by Katherine Shepler) - A girl who made things up. *'Olivia' (voiced by Zoe Miner) - A girl who sometimes has trouble finding her courage. *'Joy' (voiced by Rachel Albrecht) - A girl who is sad when her best friend moves away; she swears off friendship, but the Care Bears help her by empathizing with her feelings. *'Susan' (voiced by Sami Staitman) - A girl with blonde hair who enjoys playing video games, but finds that work can be satisfying when she actually puts forth the effort. *'Kaylee' (voiced by Olivia Hack) - A girl who moved to a new school from Hawaii. She plays the ukelele, but is being bullied by a girl named Madison. *'Madison' (voiced by Chiara Zanni) - A girl who plays the guitar. When Kaylee joined her class in her school, she started bullying her because she felt jealous and felt that she had stolen her spotlight by playing the ukelele. Madison's voice actress, Chiara Zanni, was Wish Bear in the previous Care Bears series, Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot *'Peter' (voiced by Sam Adler) - A boy who is known to always follow rules and who lives by the guidelines of a written rule book. When he arrives in Care-a-Lot, Funshine Bear and Grumpy Bear encourage him to cut loose and he becomes a rebellious spirit with the declared intent of breaking all of Care-a-Lot's rules. After getting into a troubling situation, he learns an important lesson. *'Aiden' (voiced by Colin Depaula) - A boy who uses a wheelchair because his legs haven't worked since birth. He enjoys a variety of sporting activities and loves trying out new ones. He prefers for anyone who might have questions about him or his wheelchair to simply ask, rather than avoid him or keep silent. *'Isabella' (voiced by Katherine Shepler) - A young girl who has issues with responsibility, and only learns about its importance by helping Wonderheart. *'Ethan' (voiced by Sean-Ryan Petersen) - A Show child who arrives with the intent of helping with the Great Giving day pageant, but ends up causing rebellion and turning it into a one person show about himself. *'Hannah' (voiced by Sami Staitman) - A girl who knows a lot about camping, but is scared of actually doing it herself, for a number of reasons. She eventually earns an honorary Care Camping stamp. Others[edit source | editbeta] *Beastly (voiced by Doug Erholtz) - A mischievous beast who wears a crown, he likes to cause trouble in Care-a-Lot, but has natural talent if allowed to shine. *Beasties - Beastly's two minions. Episodes[edit source | editbeta] Main article: List of Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot episodes The series premiered on June 2, 2012 on The Hub in the United States. A 30-second preview was posted on YouTube on May 2, 2012.[3] Movie[edit source | editbeta] Care Bears: A Belly Badge for Wonderheart the Movie came out on DVD on August 6, 2013.[4] Cast[edit source | editbeta] *Michaela Dean as Wonderheart Bear *Doug Erholtz as Grumpy Bear, Champ Bear, Beastly *David Lodge as Tenderheart Bear, Great Giving Bear, Shiver Me Timbear *Patty Mattson as Cheer Bear *Stephanie Sheh as Share Bear, Baby Hugs Bear, Secret Bear, Laugh-a-Lot Bear *Katherine Shepler as Penny, Jayden, Riley, Isabella *Michael Sinterniklaas as Funshine Bear, Bedtime Bear, Birthday Bear *Nayo Wallace as Harmony Bear, Love-a-Lot Bear *Melissa Mable as Thanks-a-Lot Bear, Surprise Bear *Peter Anderson as Good Luck Bear *Olivia Hack as Best Friend Bear, Baby Tugs Bear, Sweet Dreams Bear *Jennifer Darling as Grams Bear Crew[edit source | editbeta] *Michael Hack - Voice Director *Joseph Garcia - Storyboard Artist *Mark Maxey - Storyboard Artist *Arun Roshan Jacob - line producer *Liz Young - supervising producer Toyline[edit source | editbeta] Partnering with Hasbro, AG will be releasing a toy line based on the series sometime in 2013.[5] Reception[edit source | editbeta] The series received negative criticism before its initial release. Cartoon Brew reported that Welcome to Care-A-Lot "needs an adult male fanbase, too, and they’re shamelessly encouraging it themselves." Just like how My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic got the Brony Phenomenon ignited in the internet.[6] Comics Alliance also said that "In case you're wondering, "Belly-Bros" is a term offered by the Hub as a potential name for the legions of male fans who'll enjoy this new Care Bears series as much as they do Friendship is Magic. If you're not feeling it, however, they're also suggesting "Care-Dudes," which sounds more like the way that William S. Preston would describe someone who works in an assisted living facility."[7] These issues were dismissed by The Hub later on in their updated statement by Crystal Williams, saying "Last night I came across your story on Cartoon Brew titled “The Hub Hopes Men Will Start Calling Themselves “Belly Bros” and “Care Dudes.” In response, I wanted to let you know that this was an unapproved and unsanctioned pitch by our PR agency that we are completely taken aback by. Both The Hub TV Network nor American Greetings Properties had any knowledge of the pitch angle. It is not our intention to compare Care Bears to My Little Pony and/or the Brony community."[8] Despite the criticism, the series received an early positive review from a blogfully.net, which stated that "If you’ve never seen a Care Bear’s [sic] episode on the Hub, you’re missing out."[9] The premiere of the series, along with Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters, saw The Hub earn its best performances amongst targeted demographics in six months.[10][11]